A little thing called history...and other protest observations

One of the more amusing and satisfying parts of the protest on Saturday (by the way, I do not believe the police crowd estimates. I bet there were a little over 100,000 there, but what do I know: I just was in it, that's all...) was the counter-demonstration on one side of the Capitol. About 15 counter-demonstrators were present as we walked by, holding up signs with rather generic slogans like "Hippies Smell." However, the funniest part of the counter-demonstration were the posters that had a picture of Saddam Hussein hanging. The caption? Sic Semper Tyrannis.

Sic Semper Tyrannis is the state motto of Virginia, and translates from Latin as "thus always to tyrants." To history students, though, the phrase is much better known as the words John Wilkes Booth shouted after he assassinated Abraham Lincoln (that first Republican tyrant who tried to, you know, free the slaves). Note to protestors: if you have a catchy Latin phrase, try Googling it first to see its meaning before you slap it on a poster.

In other protest news:
1. About 30 minutes beforehand, a group of anarchists marched past a group of us, going down seventh street. They had their customary black outfits...and a black and pink flag (call the fashion police!). They were led down 7th street, completely away from the White House which they claimed to be going to. It was a rather amusing sight, and I hope they all fell into the Potomac.

2. I would have to echo Bwog's sentiments: who cares about Jane Fonda? It seems to me that if she hurt the Vietnam anti-war movement with her ditzy dumbness, then she probably isn't gonna do this anti-war movement any favors.

3. And in parade route news, the original route called for the entire march to make a U-Turn in front of the Supreme Court (behind the Capitol). Not only is it rather silly to expect a whole march to turn around in the middle of the block, but it seems the Judicial Branch

General message to snobbish old protestors who complain about us compared to '68: if you're gonna be idiotic enough to not only invite Jane Fonda, but also expect a parade to make a u-turn, then stop organizing these things and let us take over. Young people deserve to have a voice at these events, and instead we got stuck listening to by-gone preachers, insufferable actors, and generally boring speakers. How can you expect a person to express him or herself if you give them no voice to do so?